Zoo Atlanta pandas and staff win awards in all five of their nominated categories

The panda fans have spoken: Atlanta’s Mei Lun and Mei Huan were voted Panda Cubs of the Year in the 2013 Giant Panda Zoo Awards, announced on Friday, January 17, at Zoo Atlanta. The Zoo Atlanta giant panda program received awards in all five of its nominated categories.

Mei Lun and Mei Huan were the Gold award winners in their category, which featured nominees from zoos housing pandas around the world. Other awards for Zoo Atlanta included a Silver award for Lun Lun as Favorite Panda Personality of 2013; a Silver award for Mammal Keeper Heather Roberts as Panda Keeper of the Year; a Bronze award for Mei Lun’s and Mei Huan’s birth as Favorite Panda Moment of 2013; and a Bronze award for Lun Lun’s and Yang Yang’s first offspring, Mei Lan, as Favorite “Returned” Panda of 2013. Voting began online on www.giantpandazoo.com on December 13, 2013, and closed on January 14, 2014.

The Zoo’s award-winning giant panda family is on exhibit daily in the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center. See the full list of nominees and winners at Giant Panda Zoo on www.giantpandazoo.com.